Cockayne. — Botanical Excursion to Southern Islands. 239 



2. Coastal Rocks. 



Here is included both the flat rocky shore and the basaltic 

 cliffs, which latter are frequently perpendicular, but contain 

 many ledges, crevices, and hollows, on or in which peat, so 

 easily and quickly formed from decaying vegetation in the 

 climate of all these islands, can lodge. This plant-formation 

 of the rocks is a most important one in the Auckland Group, 

 since by far the greater part of the coast-line consists of 

 cliffs, which must offer the most varied situations for plant- 

 life. On this account a detailed account of the distribution 

 of their plant-inhabitaiits with regard to the various ecolo- 

 gical factors would be of considerable phytogeographical 

 interest. My observations, however, were confined to a very 

 rapid examination of a few coastal rocks at Ewing Island 

 and Eose Island. I also walked for some short distance 

 along the stony shore of the north coast of Adams Island, 

 and spent a few minutes on the summit of those rocks at its 

 western corner where the narrow strait connects Carnley 

 Harbour with the Southern Ocean. Thus, since it was 

 impossible, under the circumstances, to obtain any true 

 conception of a typical rock-formation, and also as the com- 

 position and physiognomy of this formation will probably 

 vary to some extent in various parts of the group, it seems 

 best to deal with each locality separately. 



On the flat rocky shore of Ewing Island, raised but little 

 above high-water mark, and very frequently drenched by the 

 sea-spray, the endemic Gotula lanata, its thick stems creeping 

 over the rock and rooting in places from the nodes, is very 

 abundant. Growing in a similar position, and rooting into 

 the chinks of the rock, are the large, green, hard cushions 

 of Colohanthus mnscoides. Close beside this latter, and fre- 

 quently growing on its surface, is the reddish-coloured Tillcaa 

 moschata. Scattered about here and there are the soft green 

 tufts of Scirpus attcklandiciis, while flattened close to the rock 

 are the green rosettes of a species of Plantago, probably en- 

 demic, and which was referred by Hooker first to P. carnosa 

 and finally to P. brownii. Eising from the flat rocks of the 

 shore are perpendicular basaltic cliS's, on the summit of which, 

 growing in the ever-present peat of these islands, are large 

 green bushes of Veronica ellij^tica, or in another part of Ewing 

 Island the magnificent Olearia lyallii crowns the cliffs ; but 

 neither of these plants belong to the formation now under 

 discussion, although perhaps the Veronica may grow on the 

 coastal cliffs in some part or other of the group, since such 

 are a very common station for this plant in the South Island 

 of New Zealand. Where the rock is wettest — and these rocks 

 often fairly drip with water — the curious indigenous grass Poa 

 ramosissima is very abundant, the pale-green of its leaves 



